Westborough – Josephine F. (Fitzpatrick) Tingley, 86, of Westborough, passed away peacefully on June 22, 2021 at the UMass Memorial University Hospital in Worcester. She is the beloved wife to the late Ford G. Tingley, who died in 2017.
Born in Natick, she was the daughter of the late Frank and Bertha (Burke) Fitzpatrick. She was raised and educated in Natick and was a graduate of Natick High School and Boston College School of Nursing in 1956.
Mrs. Tingley then served in the United States Air Force as a Nurse 2nd Lieutenant from 1957 to 1959. She was also a member of the 7505th USAF Hospital.
Prior to retirement, Josephine was employed as an Industrial Nurse Consultant for Liberty Mutual, In Plant Nurse for Tracerlab – Kelleket, School Nurse for the Town of Natick, and a Pharmacy Technician for CVS in Westborough.
Josephine was a communicant of St. Luke the Evangelist Church in Westborough where she also served as a lector. She was a member of the Mother of Twins Club and co-authored a book titled, “The Care of Twin Children.”
When her children were young, she helped the Walnut Hill School in Natick by hosting Japanese students at her house during holidays. She has maintained lifelong friendships with many of her Japanese friends. She even went to visit her friends in Japan in early 2000.
She was member of the Council on Aging and an advocate for helping to keep seniors safe. She helped with a proposal to the state legislator to get plug-in battery backup emergency lights for elders in government housing. Sadly, the bill did not pass, but she was able to get a plug-in emergency light in the sleeping area of all elders in Westborough.
She loved going to the Westborough senior center to be with her friends. She especially loved to crochet afghans and lap blankets with her friends and give them away. She loved shopping to pick out just the right color yarn for a friend or family.
Her favorite activity was sitting with a friend or family member listening and offering advice or just laughing at a great joke.
She is survived by her four children, Sharon Edwards and her husband Lee of Rutland, Shawn Tingley and his wife Simonne of Batavia, Ill., Vincent Tingley and his wife Sally of Natick, and Ellen Foster and her husband Keith of Natick; 10 grandchildren, Lauren, Ryan, Lyndra, Brieanne, Christopher, Brian, Megan, Justin, Emma, and Rachel; two great-grandchildren, Grayson and Maelyn, and one due in late July. She was predeceased by her husband, parents, and a son, Carl Tingley.
Her funeral Mass will be celebrated on Tuesday, June 29, at 10:30 a.m., in St. Luke the Evangelist Church, 70 West Main St., Westborough. Burial, with military honors, will follow in St. Patrick’s Cemetery of Natick. A calling hour will be held from 9-10 a.m. in the Pickering & Son Westborough Funeral Home, 62 West Main St., Westborough, prior to her funeral Mass.
In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be sent to the Shriners Burn Hospital, Westborough Senior Center, or to the St. Luke’s Memorial Fund.
www.westboroughfuneralhome.com
